Thursday, August 13, 2015

Paul Dunmall and Tony Bianco - Homage to Coltrane (Slam, 2015)

Over the past five years saxophonist Paul Dunmall and
drummer Tony Bianco have produced some of the finest interpretations of the
music of John Coltrane available by developing some of his most famous themes
and crafting their own unique improvisations out of them. Their momentum
reaches critical mass with this astonishing double live album where they have
simply outdone themselves. They open with the majestic theme to one of
Coltrane’s most towering achievements, “Ascension,” developing epic roiling
saxophone and thrashing drums, with Dunmall blowing over the top as a
testimonial to this extraordinary music. Peals of saxophone and rolling drums
celebrate the joy of freedom. “Resolution,” a key point in A Love Supreme has
the duo making a humble reading of the opening section before digging down into
the deep and fertile soil of the music. Bianco’s nimble drums meet flurries of
saxophone, and they are able to improvise at length, reveling in the open space
that they are able to create. “Central Park West” is an earlier John Coltrane
composition, written and recorded during his tenure with Atlantic Records in
1960. They musicians take the melody into a yearning and emotional space,
building their own story upon it, before moving to a raw and fast
improvisation. Their momentum carries them through the music with great
strength.One of my favorite John
Coltrane performances is “Transition” and Dunmall and Bianco do it proud,
coming out boiling hot with the saxophone sailing up and down, shortening and
narrowing their music into a focused beam, carving their own path through the
music. The hard won spirituality of “Pslam” concluded Coltrane’s epic
masterpiece A Love Supreme. The duo takes the haunted reverential sound of the
original and spins their own improvisation out at great length, starting slowly
and thoughtfully, contemplating the seriousness of the song, but then gaining
speed and approaching full blast, making way for a very impressive drum solo
before Dumnall’s saxophone returns to the solemnity of the feel and concluding
the piece. Disc two begins with a medley of “Ogunde>Ascent” which is very
free, as the drums push as hard as they can with potent saxophone running point
buy his side. Things move ever more powerfully as the music is taken way out on
a high wire as Dunmall plays up and down the length and breadth of his
instrument while Bianco’s drums pummel ecstatically, making for a truly heroic
performance. Another early classic, “Naima” is taken much faster than the
original, it is hard to tell, but it seems like a radical re-imagining of the
song. It is fascinating to hear them to develop a punchy improvisation and then
state the melody at the end of the performance rather than at the beginning.
“The Drum Thing” from the Crescent LP is a monster performance, developing a
feeling of intense longing as the drums build potency and loud cries of
saxophone linger in the air. Bianco’s drum solo gives a respectful nod to Elvin
Jones before developing his own rhythm, faster and louder, relentless and when
Dunmall returns the music is simply overpowering and transcendent, sounding
like a full band with just two people. On the Slam Records website, Dunmall is
quoted as saying "with the release of my 3rd tribute CD to Coltrane I feel
my wonderful journey focusing on his music is complete. It has been a very
joyful experience and given me a great sense of fulfillment and
satisfaction." I hope this is not the case, but if it is indeed true, they
have gone out at the highest point imaginable with this staggering album cementing
their unimpeachable legacy as one of the greatest of all Coltrane interpreters.